Despite its enormous size, the heavy transport aircraft An-124 easily lifts up to 150 tons of cargo into the air. The wing design, built according to a special scheme, plays an important role in this, explained "Ruslan" commander Nikolay Yatsenko.
According to him, the An-124 wing has a large margin in terms of angle of attack. The plane itself is made as a single piece, not from several parts, like the Il-76.
Let's say, take a broom. A single twig breaks easily, but if you take the whole broom, it's much harder to break. This is the An-124 wing. Its power elements, spars, ribs, are connected by the skin. This is roughly the same design as, in simple terms, a broom.
Earlier it became known why it is impossible to resume the production of "Ruslans" in Russia. The necessary production base has been destroyed, and there are almost no competencies left.
A total of 56 "Ruslans" were built, and the actual number of flying aircraft regularly changes.